After this win, Shamrock became Pancrase's #1 fighter, a title that he held for almost his entire Pancrase career. The show drew an enthusiastic sellout crowd of 7,000 fans, who didn’t know what they would be seeing, but when it was over, both the fans and media heavily praised this new event. There was some irony in this, as it was Funaki who had, along with Karl Gotch and Yoshiaki Fujiwara, taught Shamrock the art of catch wrestling during their days as professional wrestlers. Using pro wrestling rules – no closed fisted punching to the head (closed fisted punches were allowed to the body), breaks on the ropes, but fighting for real – Shamrock beat his friend and mentor, MMA legend Masakatsu Funaki by arm-triangle choke in the main event of the very first Pancrase show on September 21, 1993. They formed a promotion called Pancrase, named by ’60s wrestling star Karl Gotch after the sport of Pankration in the ancient Olympics, which combined all different forms of fighting into one sport. Shamrock, Funaki and Suzuki then spearheaded a group of pro wrestlers and decided to abandon everything people had told them about real matches not being marketable. The success of this match made young pro wrestlers Shamrock, Masakatsu Funaki and Minoru Suzuki question what they had been told since breaking into predetermined wrestling: that nobody would ever pay to see real matches. Shamrock took Nielsen down immediately and submitted him with an arm lock in 45 seconds. Wayne Shamrock, as Ken was known in Japan, faced world kickboxing champion Don Nakaya Nielsen. On October 4, 1992, at the Tokyo Dome, a rare legitimate match was booked. The origins of Shamrock's mixed martial arts career began in the Japanese pro wrestling organization Fujiwara Gumi. MMA career Pancrase Hybrid Wrestling (1993–1996) 2.4 Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (2002, 2004).1.4 Ultimate Fighting Championship (Second spell – 2002–2006).1.3 Return to MMA- Pride Fighting Championships (2000–2002).1.2.1 First UFC rivalry: Ken Shamrock vs Royce Gracie.
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